In Their Own Words

In our December 2016 podcast, Skip Steward, Chief Improvement Office (CIO) for Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation in Memphis, Tennessee shares lessons from the "Baptist Management System," including reflections from his 25+ year continuous improvement journey. Guided by his introduction to Dr. Deming's vision of continuous improvement, Skip "migrated" from an early career in manufacturing to his current career in healthcare. One year ago, he was promoted from System Director for Continuous Improvement to serve as Baptist Health Care's first-ever "CIO", with an "I" for Improvement. In addition to his explanation of the Baptist Management System, ("a holistic approach to managing that puts a focus on purpose, people and process. We care about the purpose, how to improve the process, and how we develop the people to improve the process.), Skip emphasizes his "infant stages" role in leading the shift in thinking within Baptist Health Care. In doing so, Skip explains the holistic nature he captured and distilled from Dr. Deming's management method and what he is doing with this wisdom to challenge and limit the otherwise "business as usual" tendency towards event-driven and episodic improvements. While crediting the tools of Hoshin Planning, Design of Experiments, Statistical Process Control, Value Stream Mapping, and Pareto charts in both clinical and non-clinical settings, Skip is quick to acknowledge the role of placing a priority on being guided by a Deming lens before proceeding to the "faster-better-cheaper" efficiency of tools.

In our November 2017 podcast, Ravi Roy, Professor of Public Administration for Southern Utah University (SUU) in Cedar City, Utah, reveals the status of evolving efforts to share his appreciation of Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge® with his Public Administration students, strongly aligned with his role as the inaugural Research Fellow of The Deming Institute. Beginning in the 1920s, with his employment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Deming worked closely with students to share his research into statistical theory. Along the way, he was introduced to Professor Harold Hotelling, who Deming would later reference with the following comment, "As Harold Hotelling once said, "He who does no research has nothing to teach."" Inspired by Dr. Deming's passion for research, The Deming Institute recently unveiled a fellowship program to engage researchers who share a desire to both expand and deepen the understanding and application of Dr. Deming's management philosophy among a new generation of students and scholars. Link here to learn more about this Research Fellow program. In this month's episode, Ravi shares reflections from his Deming research journey and his passion for guiding his student's understanding and application of Dr. Deming's management method. As the former director of SUU's Masters in Public Administration program, Ravi is progressing to a role as director of the Deming Incubator for Public Affairs for Southern Utah University, a new partnership with The Deming Institute. Under Ravi's leadership, SUU students will soon have the opportunity to engage him in applying Dr. Deming's "new economics for industry, government, education," with an emphasis on government.

TJ Gokcen, CEO of Acquate, discusses applying Dr. Deming's philosophy to software development and internal operations. Topics include Deming's influence on methodologies, evolution of software development, and systems thinking. Emphasizes long-term client partnerships and collaboration in the industry.

In this week's podcast, David P. Langford, CEO of Langford Learning, Inc., focuses on "Joy in Learning" and how to bring joy back into the education system. In answering why students aren't experiencing "Joy in Learning" David starts by quoting Dr. Deming, "are we trying to create a system that teaches students to answer tests or are we trying to create a system that teaches them to think?" The current education system continues to focus on test scores, to the detriment of learning and the loss of elements in the system (like fine arts programs) that brought enjoyment. Dr. Deming was the first person David encountered who believed students have a right to joy in learning. What can you do to change the system? David tells us that restoring joy begins with your "circle of influence" and connecting with those who want a better way to do things. Teachers can start by simply asking students, "what drives you to have joy in learning and what prevents it?" David shares that there is no recipe for using the Deming philosophy, unlike other education movements. Often these methods don't work because there is no understanding of variability between communities, states, cultures and the background of students. Once it's decided to change the system, real learning happens, performance goes up and joy returns! For more information about David's current work, with Ingenium Schools, please visit ingeniumfoundation.org

Travis Timmons, owner of Fitness Matters and Kelly Allan, Senior Associate of Kelly Allan Associates and Chair of The Deming Institute's Advisory Council. Travis and Kelly share the Deming journey "From Chaos to Process" of Fitness Matters, starting with Travis's introduction to The System of Profound Knowledge® (SoPK), and systems thinking. The focus then shifts to psychology and caring for people, and how they have driven our fear and removed barriers all while creating "joy in work". He ends with how using the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) Cycle has helped them grow and thrive. Travis discusses how he was introduced to the Deming philosophy and areas that first resonated with him - including using a systems approach, and how to think differently and put processes in place to make better decisions. One of the most powerful aspects for him was how SoPK makes you look at how you care for people inside and outside the organization. Travis and Kelly then talk about how the psychology element and the team mindset has been game changing. These have led to less fear, less stress and more joy within the organization, leading to positive outcomes and win-wins for everyone (including the competition). Lastly, Travis shares a few examples of PDSA's and the aha moments they discovered along the way. From getting new referrals to finding tampering in the scheduling system, PDSA's have been a very effective tool in moving them light years ahead in working together as one system and having fun while they do it.

Cliff Norman and Ron Moen from API discuss the history of the PDSA Cycle, its connection to Deming's philosophy of continuous improvement, and the evolution of the cycle from the Shewhart Cycle to the modern PDSA Cycle. They explore the incorrect attribution of PDCA to Deming and the importance of rigorous application and continuous learning in business improvement.

In this week's podcast, Kevin Cahill, Executive Director of The W. Edwards Deming Institute® and David Langford, CEO of Langford Learning, Inc., introduce The Deming in Education Initiative. Kevin and David share how The Deming in Education Initiative was conceived, the impact of the Deming Philosophy on education, and where the Initiative is going in the future. The initiative first began many years ago when David joined the Deming Institute Advisory Council to help with their efforts to apply the Deming philosophy in education. But the roots of Deming in Education go even further back. As David explains, improving education was "a great love" of Dr. Deming, as an educator who taught at NY University for 40 years. Many of Dr. Deming's theories and teachings are directly focused on the education system. After working with Dr. Deming from 1986 to 1993, David began implementing the concepts in his own education system, finding that students easily took to the new approach. Over the last 25 years, David has seen the Deming teachings make a profound and lasting impact on improving school culture and the learning process in the US and around the world. It is the only philosophy that improves all aspects of the education system. That impact has inspired Kevin, David and The Deming Institute to commit a deeper focus on developing a long term, sustainable, systems approach to improving education for all students, through The Deming in Education Initiative. For more information about David's current work, with Ingenium Schools, please visit ingeniumfoundation.org

This week's Podcast, continues our "Knowledge in Variation Series" with Dr. Frony Ward, Managing and Founding Partner of Pinnacle Partners, Inc. In this podcast, Frony discusses online surveys and polls. She starts by sharing the fundamental piece of every single survey. From there she delves into elections polls, and why so many election polls show different results. Lastly, she discusses two or three good things you can do to help yourself understand a poll.

Scott's story starts in 1986, as a graduate walking in the doors of P&G to be a new engineer and shift manager. He was soon perplexed by how he could contribute to solving issues associated with production and quality. During this time, P&G introduced the Deming Philosophy to the organization; a decision that would have a profound impact on Scott's professional and personal life. Scott eagerly applied what he learned, despite facing resistance to change and improvements. After three years, he decided to move to a smaller company where the Deming principles were readily embraced. Listen as Scott discusses how he leads a highly inventive engineering organization whose focus is on innovation and the advantage gained through the embrace of Deming's continual improvement philosophy. Hear his fascinating approach to hiring employees without factoring in schooling and GPA, and a discussion between Tripp and Scott on the challenge presented by ISO 9000.

This week's podcast, continues our "Knowledge in Variation Series" with Dr. Frony Ward, Managing and Founding Partner of Pinnacle Partners, Inc. Frony discusses the importance of Statistical Process Control (SPC) in all parts of an organization and why it's a barrier to many. Frony was first introduced to SPC (Statistical Process Control) when she was teaching at the University of Tennessee. An opportunity arose to be a part of an institute surrounding statistical process control and she jumped in with both feet, deepening her knowledge of Deming. The institute became a place for people to continue learning after Dr. Deming's Four-Day Seminar. Frony spent the remainder of her time at U of T working with automotive facilities that wanted to study variation and use SPC. Frony had an opportunity to meet Dr. Deming in 1982 and he completely turned her thinking upside down, especially around Acceptance Sampling Plans. Deming's theory was that the percentage of defective units in the rest of the lot is independent of the percentage of defective units in your sample. Her mind was blown when she went back and proved this herself. When Frony first learned SPC, it was totally new to her. At first she didn't realize the impact of knowing common cause and special cause variation. After a number of engagements it became obvious that SPC was "the name of the game". At all levels of the organization, from the inspection level to the management level, she could see instantly what was going on by using SPC. It was a powerful tool to "highlight" what people needed to know to make decision and help improve. Frony finds it fascinating and frustrating that many organizations are aware of SPC but don't use it. She feels that for some reason, finance systems can compromise improvement. Organizations just don't understand that the process behavior chart is the "secret sauce" to seeing their organization.